Last Updated on 09/28/21 by Rose Palmer
I am continuing with my quilt block of the month project that I started in May. It is amazing how quickly this month has gone by and now it is time to share block 2 of my half square triangle explorations.
I like making quilts with half square triangles (HSQ) because there are so many interesting geometric possibilities. There are many ways to make half square triangles and I have shared my preferred half square triangle sewing method in a previous post.
For this quilt block of the month project, I am playing with the many geometric possibilities that you get with a 4 block HST. Then I combine four of these units into a 16 HST design block. In the post for Block 1 I discussed in a little more detail about all the mathematical possibilities you can have with a 4-HST unit
Triangle Fourplay – Quilt Block of the Month Block 2
I call this month’s block “half geese”.
With my quilting design program, I tried to identify as many design possibilities with this 4-HST “half geese” unit as I could. The figure below shows the ones I came up with.
This is what the 4-HST unit looks like when sewn together using two contrasting fabrics. For the solid colored fabric, I am using the Insignia collection by Allison Glass for Andover Fabrics.
I tried many of the design options with my fabric half square triangle units which you can see below.
In the end, I chose to make the following design. Note how the same design looks different when the positions of the dark and light fabrics are interchanged.
When the fabric choices are increased to three, then the contrasts in the pattern is even more clear. As with Block 1, I also made this block with shades of red and cream.
For a different scrappier look, I also made the same design with some of my Kaffe Fasset fabric scraps.
For these blocks, my starting half square triangle is 3.5 inches square. Once I’ve sewn 16 of them into a block, the size of the sewn block is 12.5 inches square which will finish at 12 inches in the quilt.
Fabric requirements
For each 12 inch finished block using two colors:
- Fat eighth or 1/8 yd of two contrasting colors, OR
- Enough fabric to cut 8 x 4 inch squares of each fabric color
For a quilt with twelve 12 inch blocks I am thinking I will need:
- 2.5 yards of each of two contrasting fabrics for the 12 blocks
- 3/4 yard fabric for sashing
- 1/3 to 1/2 yard for each border
- 1/2 yard for binding
Check out the rest of the designs in this block of the month series:
Block 1, Block 3, Block 4, Block 5, Block 6
Join me next month for the next installment of this easy block-of-the-month challenge.
Thanks for visiting.
Rose
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